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Thread: LCD TVs Which one to buy

  1. #1

    LCD TVs Which one to buy

    I am planning to buy any decent LCD for my personal use and I am confused between Sony and Samsung. Samsung has edge over Sony in terms of price.
    However, I just believe that nobody can have quality like Sony.. but its a rip-off for pocket. I am confused with couple technical things like contrast, HD, Series(In Sony I want to go for Z series and in samsung I am zeroing on 6 series), I don't have much idea about LCDs and i just google the technical specifications and try to figure out.

    I am just wondering if anybody of us has already gone through this dilemma and how he/she took the decision. I am not able to decide amount Sony KDL40Z5500 and Samsung LE40B651..
    Has anybody tried LED TVs from samsung??

  2. #2
    Go for samsung ..sony is becoming lack lusture these days, don't be in league with ppl who express too many wows for sony ..u know we bought a digital camera of sony trust me it's pictures are pathetic ..we repented later..So , i doubt if the LCD of sony is worth buying and if u are really meticulous abt the picture quality then think of buying samsung LCD .!
    Quote Originally Posted by yudhvirmor View Post
    I am planning to buy any decent LCD for my personal use and I am confused between Sony and Samsung. Samsung has edge over Sony in terms of price.
    However, I just believe that nobody can have quality like Sony.. but its a rip-off for pocket. I am confused with couple technical things like contrast, HD, Series(In Sony I want to go for Z series and in samsung I am zeroing on 6 series), I don't have much idea about LCDs and i just google the technical specifications and try to figure out.

    I am just wondering if anybody of us has already gone through this dilemma and how he/she took the decision. I am not able to decide amount Sony KDL40Z5500 and Samsung LE40B651..
    Has anybody tried LED TVs from samsung??

  3. #3
    Just close your eyes and buy the cheapest possible LCD TV that supports 1080P resolution and has HDMI ports to play your HD media.

    Theres not much difference between all the LCD tvs available in the market. Plasmas have a slightly crisper picture but they will suck on your utility bill. The difference is not much though.

    LED TVs are nothing but LCD TVS. They use LED lamps instead of fluorescent lamps. The LEDs are lined up around the screens edge while fluorescent lamps have to be lined up behind the screen which takes up more space. Thats why fluorescent-LCD tvs are thicker than LED-LCD tvs.

    Conclusion: Brand does not matter. What matters is whether the TV supports true HD resolution of 1080P and how high is the refresh rate. From what I have heard is that there are humongous factories in China that manufacture the televisions for all major brands at the facilities. Similarly all laptop brands are made by more or less the same manufacturer using identical components. It does not matter if its an apple or a PC. I know Apple products like ipods and iphones are manufactured by foxconn, which is primarily a cable manufacturer and also manufactures for lots of other manufacturers like Belkin and netgear. So, save your money and don't go for the brand.
    Last edited by dahiyarules; December 12th, 2009 at 10:42 PM.

  4. #4
    I see price difference on pricerunner.co.uk between these 2 as 300-500 pounds. For that price, you can buy a very good home cinema system to complement your TV. While Sony is Sony, I don't think it should command that big a difference. LCDs are quite fragile and I won't be comfortable making a big investment. Especially because I have broken one TV and saw another one going bust. Both were Samsung. The first one we broke the screen, but somehow managed to get it exchanged by Samsung. The second one had a power issue after 1 year. I found out that it was a very common issue with that Samsung model. Basically it had to do with some cheap capacitors put on the motherboard whose life was 1-2 years. The fix was easy (if you are a mechanic, which I am not) and I even bought a soldering iron and capacitors to try and do it myself (any simple repair job in UK costs a fortune). But eventually I managed to get this exchanged by the retail company, Beyond Television. Not Samsung this time as they refused to accept that their TV had this fault (though clearly you could see lots of people online with exactly the same issue).

    The point behind the above is not to suggest that Samsung is shitty. Well, the 2nd problem looked quite stupid, but I think it can happen with any brand. I still like their TVs and I think they are very well priced. There is no issue with picture quality. And the problem above is so stupid that I hope they have fixed it by now. And there are other non-Sony choices like Toshiba, Sharp, etc. I won't suggest buying any local brand. Some chinese stuff like Grundig may be very cheap, but if you want to gamble with your money, you may as well go to a casino. I haven't owned a Sony LCD TV (have had their digi cams, which have been brilliant, but that has nothing to do with TV), but I think you do get better quality for extra money, though the quality increase is not as much as price increase. That is brand premium>fundamental value.

    A good thing to do would be to go to www.avforums.com. It has a dedicated forum on LCDs. You would find lots of user inputs on specific models, comparisons, problems, etc. Avoid a model with known problems, even if some proud owners say they never faced it. Second good thing would be to choose a nice retailer. My first one was Currys (Dixons, PC world, etc. are same company as Curry). And they didn't help out with my broken TV (not arguing they should have, as we broke it). But I won't buy from them again. Second one was from Beyond Television, a much smaller company, and they replaced my TV with a new model. And that too after 1 year, when warranty had elapsed! It was totally unexpected. Another option would be John Lewis, who give a 5 year warranty on all TVs (accidental damage ofcourse not included). And they would also price match if you get them a quote from a street shop (not an online one). I think 5 year warranty is really great for a LCD TV, whatever brand you are buying.

    You are much better off looking for technical details online rather than on JL. There are buying guides like this which should answer most of your questions:
    http://www.cnet.com/1990-7874_1-5108580-1.html
    (PS: don't let HD and all to overwhelm you. Most LCD TVs have HD and despite having HD ready TV for 2 years, haven't seen a single HD telecast. I won't dish out money on HD DVDs/Sky HD. Look for other issues that are more practical. Like how many devices you want to connect to TV and how. There are n things that can be connected like Sky box, home theater system, wii/PS, computer, even cameras and all. Depending on how you want to connect them (SCART, HD, Auxillary, etc.), you'd need enough types of inputs/outputs on your TV.)

    You can also go to the more famous review sites. Cnet, review center, etc. would have review of all popular TVs. This link has links for several reviews:
    http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-l...0-11-09-a.html

    And this has lots of FAQs on LCDs. Should be comprehensive:
    http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-l...ere-first.html

    And this is the AVforum link where people discuss what TV to buy (though you should go to general LCD forum as well and search for threads of the model you want to buy to look for specific issues, if any, the owners of that model are facing. I won't buy an absolutely new model which has not been tested by others)
    http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-t...-should-i-buy/

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by kapil.dalal View Post
    I see price difference on pricerunner.co.uk between these 2 as 300-500 pounds. For that price, you can buy a very good home cinema system to complement your TV. While Sony is Sony, I don't think it should command that big a difference. LCDs are quite fragile and I won't be comfortable making a big investment. Especially because I have broken one TV and saw another one going bust. Both were Samsung. The first one we broke the screen, but somehow managed to get it exchanged by Samsung. The second one had a power issue after 1 year. I found out that it was a very common issue with that Samsung model. Basically it had to do with some cheap capacitors put on the motherboard whose life was 1-2 years. The fix was easy (if you are a mechanic, which I am not) and I even bought a soldering iron and capacitors to try and do it myself (any simple repair job in UK costs a fortune). But eventually I managed to get this exchanged by the retail company, Beyond Television. Not Samsung this time as they refused to accept that their TV had this fault (though clearly you could see lots of people online with exactly the same issue).

    The point behind the above is not to suggest that Samsung is shitty. Well, the 2nd problem looked quite stupid, but I think it can happen with any brand. I still like their TVs and I think they are very well priced. There is no issue with picture quality. And the problem above is so stupid that I hope they have fixed it by now. And there are other non-Sony choices like Toshiba, Sharp, etc. I won't suggest buying any local brand. Some chinese stuff like Grundig may be very cheap, but if you want to gamble with your money, you may as well go to a casino. I haven't owned a Sony LCD TV (have had their digi cams, which have been brilliant, but that has nothing to do with TV), but I think you do get better quality for extra money, though the quality increase is not as much as price increase. That is brand premium>fundamental value.

    A good thing to do would be to go to www.avforums.com. It has a dedicated forum on LCDs. You would find lots of user inputs on specific models, comparisons, problems, etc. Avoid a model with known problems, even if some proud owners say they never faced it. Second good thing would be to choose a nice retailer. My first one was Currys (Dixons, PC world, etc. are same company as Curry). And they didn't help out with my broken TV (not arguing they should have, as we broke it). But I won't buy from them again. Second one was from Beyond Television, a much smaller company, and they replaced my TV with a new model. And that too after 1 year, when warranty had elapsed! It was totally unexpected. Another option would be John Lewis, who give a 5 year warranty on all TVs (accidental damage ofcourse not included). And they would also price match if you get them a quote from a street shop (not an online one). I think 5 year warranty is really great for a LCD TV, whatever brand you are buying.

    You are much better off looking for technical details online rather than on JL. There are buying guides like this which should answer most of your questions:
    http://www.cnet.com/1990-7874_1-5108580-1.html
    (PS: don't let HD and all to overwhelm you. Most LCD TVs have HD and despite having HD ready TV for 2 years, haven't seen a single HD telecast. I won't dish out money on HD DVDs/Sky HD. Look for other issues that are more practical. Like how many devices you want to connect to TV and how. There are n things that can be connected like Sky box, home theater system, wii/PS, computer, even cameras and all. Depending on how you want to connect them (SCART, HD, Auxillary, etc.), you'd need enough types of inputs/outputs on your TV.)

    You can also go to the more famous review sites. Cnet, review center, etc. would have review of all popular TVs. This link has links for several reviews:
    http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-l...0-11-09-a.html

    And this has lots of FAQs on LCDs. Should be comprehensive:
    http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-l...ere-first.html

    And this is the AVforum link where people discuss what TV to buy (though you should go to general LCD forum as well and search for threads of the model you want to buy to look for specific issues, if any, the owners of that model are facing. I won't buy an absolutely new model which has not been tested by others)
    http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-t...-should-i-buy/
    Thanks for this detailed information buddy. I agree that both TVs are almost equally good but Sony is almost 400 quid costlier. There are couple of things that enticing me to go for Sony, though I have not made my final decision yet:
    1. Sony as a brand, I am using Sony XR200E HD handycam and its just superb. I used Sony Vaio that was also amazing machine

    2. They are only offering 200Hz for picture processing and samsung is still on 100 hz motion plus. I am intended to watch sports so I am not sure how its going to be with samsung..

    I am trying to make my mind for Samsung LE40b651.. it looks like quite decent LCD and as you rightly said, I can buy Blue ray home theatre of sony with the remaining amount.

    Thanks for your all support, I'll let you know what i bought

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by dahiyarules View Post
    Just close your eyes and buy the cheapest possible LCD TV that supports 1080P resolution and has HDMI ports to play your HD media.

    Theres not much difference between all the LCD tvs available in the market. Plasmas have a slightly crisper picture but they will suck on your utility bill. The difference is not much though.

    LED TVs are nothing but LCD TVS. They use LED lamps instead of fluorescent lamps. The LEDs are lined up around the screens edge while fluorescent lamps have to be lined up behind the screen which takes up more space. Thats why fluorescent-LCD tvs are thicker than LED-LCD tvs.

    Conclusion: Brand does not matter. What matters is whether the TV supports true HD resolution of 1080P and how high is the refresh rate. From what I have heard is that there are humongous factories in China that manufacture the televisions for all major brands at the facilities. Similarly all laptop brands are made by more or less the same manufacturer using identical components. It does not matter if its an apple or a PC. I know Apple products like ipods and iphones are manufactured by foxconn, which is primarily a cable manufacturer and also manufactures for lots of other manufacturers like Belkin and netgear. So, save your money and don't go for the brand.
    I agree with Sumit that everything is getting manufactured in China.. I ordered my Macbook couple of months ago and I tried to do the order tracking. I was kinda of upset to see that was shipped from China. I don't have much issue with the quality of Chinese products. But I generally avoid buying anything manufactured in China or Pakistan.

    Sony stood high among its competitors in terms of quality and market share. I don't know if its just marketing or if they are really good.

    Samsung is good in making cranes and ships. I always have doubts about their expertise in manufacturing electronic goods

  7. #7
    go for sony .using bravia . like that


    Think which become obvious in future

  8. #8
    I have a Sony Vega. It was one of the first and last 1080i LCDs to be manufactured. Most HD media comes in 1080p.

    Why do I even care? I dont even remember the last time I turned it on. :p

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by yudhvirmor View Post
    I agree with Sumit that everything is getting manufactured in China.. I ordered my Macbook couple of months ago and I tried to do the order tracking. I was kinda of upset to see that was shipped from China. I don't have much issue with the quality of Chinese products. But I generally avoid buying anything manufactured in China or Pakistan.

    Sony stood high among its competitors in terms of quality and market share. I don't know if its just marketing or if they are really good.

    Samsung is good in making cranes and ships. I always have doubts about their expertise in manufacturing electronic goods
    Dont worry for samsung or a sony go for View Sonic or Sharp if you can locate there dealers

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by RanBEAR View Post
    Dont worry for samsung or a sony go for View Sonic or Sharp if you can locate there dealers
    I heard about Sharp as they are the pioneers of LCD technology. I heard the name View Sonic but never saw anybody using their LCDs

  11. #11
    chill man! its done, go for sharp and enjoy.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by yudhvirmor View Post
    I heard about Sharp as they are the pioneers of LCD technology. I heard the name View Sonic but never saw anybody using their LCDs
    brother panasonic viera is a nice option


    Think which become obvious in future

  13. #13
    Great News!!

    So after lots of brainstorming sessions and after wasting lots of time on web.. I settled with Sony KDL40W5500.. I bought it through Amazon and it'll be delivered in day or two..

    I was getting sharp 6 series LED in same price but it's 50 Hz TV and I think watching sport or high action stuff may be problem..

    Thanks everybody for your suggestions.

  14. #14
    Hi Bro,

    I would suggest to go for 3M Pro 150 Mini Projector.... Its the coolest one... Or You Can Say All In One thing... Just Have A look on Amazon or or visit www . 3m . com/ mpro/ .. In Just 385$ you are getting a 80" Projection, Multimedia Player (Plays almost all Movies/ Docs/ etc.., can be connected to Set Top Box ) & Has a best Lamp life(20,000 Hrs) too....

    I ma desperate to buy one for me, but cannot buy it as it is not available in India, but will get it if any friend of Mine coming to within 3-4 Weeks, I will ask him/her to bring that for Me. Its really a sexy thing.
    Thanks & Regards,

    Arvind Sindhu


    || The essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond. ||

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by arvindsindhu View Post
    Hi Bro,

    I would suggest to go for 3M Pro 150 Mini Projector.... Its the coolest one... Or You Can Say All In One thing... Just Have A look on Amazon or or visit www . 3m . com/ mpro/ .. In Just 385$ you are getting a 80" Projection, Multimedia Player (Plays almost all Movies/ Docs/ etc.., can be connected to Set Top Box ) & Has a best Lamp life(20,000 Hrs) too....

    I ma desperate to buy one for me, but cannot buy it as it is not available in India, but will get it if any friend of Mine coming to within 3-4 Weeks, I will ask him/her to bring that for Me. Its really a sexy thing.
    Thanks for suggestions buddy. I already bought Sony . My living room is not ideal for Projector.. For 80" projection, we need living room space around 25-30 feet...

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